ALONSO WELCOMES N.Y.’S GLARING SPOTLIGHT

Lefty Luebke’s decision to have surgery justified when surgery reveals amount of tearing in elbow ligament

NEW YORK 
The team plane from St. Louis got into JFK at 3 a.m. EDT, the team bus arriving at a Manhattan hotel at 4:15 a.m. A car awaited Yonder Alonso a little after noon, taking him to Secaucus, N.J., where he was interviewed by the MLB Network tag-team of Larry Bowa and Matt Yallof for a national baseball-talk show.

Only a few hours later, Padres pitcher Clayton Richard walked into the visiting clubhouse at Citi Field, pointed at the nearest of several televisions in the room and shouted “Whoa!!!” Just about the only person in the room not watching the replay of the aforementioned interview, featuring several close-ups of Alonso, was Alonso himself. Fact is, everyone was impressed with how comfortable their young first baseman looked fielding questions and handling the spotlight

Indeed, it’s New York, and this could be the start of something big.

“I think it’s a little early, real early, but yes,” said Padres manager Bud Black. “The last three weeks or so — I can’t point to a certain day, but it coincided with him getting a few hits and started playing better defense — but whatever it was, it seemed to I think it triggered a better feeling of who he is as a player. He’s been able to hit his entire life, and when that’s the case, I think it gives you a certain confidence.

“I get the sense about him now that now we’re seeing who he truly is. But, again, it’s really, really early.”

So much about the current Padres club is in the “really, really early stages,” as evidenced by a wretched record and last-place status and the makeshift roster with call-ups throughout the clubhouse. But it’s also quite evident that Alonso is asserting himself as not only a player — batting an even .300 as he arrived in the Big Apple — but as a budding leader who stands out and stands up in desperate times.

“It’s important that you have those guys,” said Black, “ those guys who, even when they’re not playing well, they stand up and speak on behalf of the team and represent the organization on a daily basis. Guys who don’t walk away from it. Every day. Good or bad.”

Alonso is only 24 years old, barely more than a rookie in terms of big-league experience, having played 69 games over two call-ups with the Cincinnati Reds before this season. He said he quietly studied the veteran ways of Scott Rolen, Joey Votto and Ramon Hernandez and learned much about how to carry yourself, but he also feels that his exposure to big-time ball at the college level with the University of Miami program prepared him for the attention that comes in the majors.

Thursday was Alonso’s first appearance in a major league game in New York. He busts into a huge smile when he someone says that there are those who take to New York — and the bigness of it — and those who don’t.

“I like it,” said Alonso. “I like New York. I like Chicago. I like Miami. I just like places like this. It brings the best out in you. You’ve gotta bring it. Of course, you’re going to have bad series wherever you are, because that’s baseball. But I welcome it.”

Luebke call justified

The ligament-replacement surgery on left-handed pitcher Cory Luebke’s throwing elbow not only went well, in the estimation of esteemed orthopedist Dr. Lewis Yocum, but was definitely warranted. Luebke had weighed the possibility of putting off surgery and trying to let the elbow improve with six week of rest, but decided to get the procedure done Wednesday.

“(Yocum) did see that it was damaged, and once he got in there, he felt Cory had made the right decision,” said Black. “In his opinion, it was probably a good thing, because he didn’t know whether the rest would heal the amount of tearing that was in there.”

Quentin improved

Satisfied with the way his post-surgical knee responded in at-bats during extended spring-training games in Arizona, outfielder Carlos Quentin is returning to Lake Elsinore to make more rehab starts with the Single-A Storm. The discomfort Quentin felt in his stance during his first try at rehab games is gone, according to Black, but there’s still no timetable for Quentin’s first appearance with the Padres since he was obtained in an offseason trade.